Naruto: After
by Seigyoki Maou
Summary: After a cataclysmic event, how will the world go on? Naruto X ?, rated M for safety.
1. After the Light

Author's Note: SWEET JUMPING CRAP. Finally, I have returned to writing fanfic. FINALLY. This is just an idea that occurred to me and just wouldn't go away until I wrote it. Its very….grimdark. But I like it. I hope you do too. Remember to comment, and constructive criticism is welcome, and as is commonly asked, no flames please.

* * *

-After-

-Prologue-

My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My father's name was Namikaze Minato, he was the Yondaime Hokage. My mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina, she was a Jinchuuriki. Like me. She held the same monster that I did. The last and most powerful of the Biju, Kyuubi no Kitsune. A massive fox, made of chakra and malice. A creature of great power, and even greater evil.

At this point, I think I owe you some background. I was a ninja, and I used the power of the Kyuubi to try and do good. I did good. I helped people. I saved people. I killed some people too. But they say bad things happen to good people. Maybe I should have been a bad person. Then maybe none of this would have happened.

There was an organization, called Akatsuki, their mission was to find all of the Jinchuuriki and rip the Biju out of us. Their leader, an insane man by the name of Uchiha Madara wanted to use their power to recreate the first Biju. A creature even more evil and powerful than the Kyuubi. The Jubi. I was the last one they captured. They got them all. Even Bee, who had become my friend. Before long I stood alone against the, unwilling to let my friends and loved ones get hurt because of me. They begged me not to. They begged me to let them help. Maybe I should have let them. In retrospect, all of what has happened is because of me. Because of my stubborn pride.

I stood before Akatsuki. Madara and Kabuto, with their army of Zetsu and long dead shinobi. They had hurt my friends. They had hurt me. They stood before me. I let the rage take over. Let the chakra I had so recently taken from the fox control me. I destroyed them. And when victory seemed sure, all of it left me. My chakra, I couldn't use it.

And I was afraid.

But I didn't stand down. Didn't flee. I kept fighting. Hoping. Hoping that I would make it through this. That I would return to my friends. I knew my hope was empty. My foolishness had let Madara win.

Finally they brought me down. They bound me. Dragged me before that statue. But no...it was not my folly. It was theirs. They thought that the Jubi would simply be the sum of the other Biju. It was so much more. They ripped the Kyuubi from me, along with all of its chakra, and by some miracle I lived.

I saw the chakra enter the statue. I saw the ninth and final eye open. I saw a white light. I though it was over. I thought I was dead. If only I had been. The light faded, and I saw only darkness.

I awoke later, how much later, to this day I do not know. But before me stood the man that had driven my surrogate brother to madness. His clay body cracking, he looked at me. All around us, a perfect circle of undamaged ground. Beyond it, devastation. The statue could not contain the power of the Jubi, and in response to the foolishness of Madara, and against the Sage who had long ago defeated it, it had enacted its vengeance against the world. Itachi had saved me. He used the black flames, and most of the power that animated his body to make a barrier to save me. He called it recompense. I called it mercy. The last of his power, he gave to me. I can feel it still. I can feel it always. The fluttering of dark wings, in my chest, in my head...in that empty space where the fox used to rest.

I walked for days after that white light. Aimlessly. Everywhere I went I saw the same thing. Destruction. Villages burnt to cinders, their citizens dead or dying. I cried nearly nonstop those first few weeks. My eyes were raw.

I found it a few days after I finished crying. Konoha. That place that I had called home. That place that I had fought so hard to protect. That place that for so long, I secretly called hell.

I found my old apartment, and l couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the world ending didn't make the shithole look much worse. I slept for a few days on a slightly charred bed before beginning to explore. I found a few people, civilians mostly. But on the fifth day...I found a flower shop. She was there. Yamanaka Ino. Her hair was longer. She had lost weight. She was the first of my friends I had found. I had never seen anyone so beautiful. We spent the next few days together, in what was left of her family's shop, before looking for more of our friends. We found a few.

We found Shikamaru, he looked tired. So tired. He had in his hand an unopened bag of chips. Chouji was nowhere to be found. We found Lee later, his face blank, his usual enthusiasm nowhere to be found. He was only counting as he punched a wall endlessly. How long he had been like this he wouldn't say, even long after. But the wall was almost broken. His wraps had long ago torn, and his hands were bloody.

We looked for weeks on end through the ruins of Konoha, and found nothing. People were simply...gone. We could find no evidence of the deaths of our friends. They just weren't there.

We sat around our fire, no longer able to stomach being inside of the broken buildings. We sat in silence for a while, then Ino spoke. "The marks on your face...they're gone."

I pulled off my headband and used it as a mirror. The whiskers were indeed gone. The marks of the Kyuubi that had marred my face for so long were no more. Somehow...it didn't feel right. Before my friends could stop me, I pulled out a kunai and made six quick slashes on my face. "Better." I smiled wryly. This is who I was. Who I am. Who I always would be. Uzumaki Naruto. The blond with the whiskers. Not even the Light would change that.

Ino got up and sat next to me, slowly healing the cuts, careful to leave the scars that she knew I wanted. As she did so, Shikamaru shifted to look at me, I could hear the chip back crinkling in his equipment pouch. "Now what. Where do we go now? Staying here...I don't know if we can do it much longer."

I was silent. It was Lee that answered. "We go to Suna. We need to know what happened in the other villages. We should start there." I nodded my silent agreement.

Shikamaru simply sat there, his chin resting on his interlaced fingers, "We'll leave in the morning."

* * *

Author's Note: WELL THAT WAS FUN. Who else gets to live? YOU DECIDE! Suggest who else should live, good guys, bad guys, it doesn't matter. And as of yet, I'm not really sure where the plot of this thing is going, so if you have any suggestions, drop me a PM. I'll gladly think about any suggestions I receive.

ALSO, and this is really the most important part. I WILL NOT CONTINUE WRITING THIS STORY UNLESS I GET A MINIMUM OF TWENTY REVIEWS. So if you like this story, and want me to keep going, tell your fellow fanfic writers and readers about it. Give them a link, just spread it around, and you shall be rewarded with delicious fanfic, and a mention in my author notes.

-Ōku ga daisuki!

-Seigyoki Maou


	2. Darkness

This one has been written up for a while; I just haven't gotten around to posting it up.

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After

Darkness

* * *

We were halfway to Sunagakure. Ino was, as had become normal in the week or so we had been travelling, nestled up against me. I couldn't help but smile. The despair that was on her face vanished when she slept. I was glad for that. We needed to escape as much as we could.

I felt a rattle in my chest, the starting of a cough that had plagued me since we had left the ruins of Konoha. I coughed softly into my hand, and grimaced as I smelt the metallic tang of blood. I was breaking down. Ino knew, but she could only do so much. We needed to know what was wrong with me. Even though…I already had an idea.

I was dying.

The Kyuubi had been ripped from me, a Jinchuuriki was supposed to die when their Biju was removed. I hadn't died, for whatever reason I had been given some extra time. I looked down and closed my eyes. I almost threw up. The natural energy that fuelled my senjutsu had been corrupted. I looked up, and my vision was filled with red. The red eyes of the Sharingan. If not for the grip Ino had on my leg, I would have leapt back, bloody lungs be damned. There he sat, Uchiha Itachi.

"Naruto-kun."

"You're dead. You do realize this don't you?"

"Yet you talk to me. Why."

"I'm dying, we'll be of the same persuasion soon anyhow. So what does it matter." I sighed, blood tingeing my breath. "How long do I have."

The spectre was silent. I could see his outline fracture, it looked like the wings of crows or ravens. "You have six months."

I sat in stunned silence. "S-six months….that's it…just…..six months." My breathing quickened, I began to hyperventilate, blood leaked out from between my lips. I fell into the worst coughing fit I had had thus far. My coughing was so loud, so painful, that I woke the others. By the time it stopped, and Ino had her hands wrapped in a soothing green light, the spectre of Itachi was gone.

For the first time in several days, I slept.

* * *

Later

* * *

When I woke, I woke in a soft bed, with dirty sheets. Everything smelt of sand and blood. To my right was a wall, so I looked to my left, expecting to see one of my companions. I was instead greeted by the site of the Kazekage. Garaa. He sat at the side of my bed reading from a small orange book, his head was wrapped in bandages.

"You actually read that smut Gaara?"

Garaa didn't seemed phased by my awakening, although, nothing ever seemed to phase him. "We have a decided lack of reading material. Most literature has become…..disposable. But for some reason, not a single person will use these books for anything other than their intended purposes. I'm trying to find out why."

I couldn't help but laugh, which was probably a bad idea, as it immediately drove me to cough. Garaa handed me a towel and a glass of water.

"Thank you…what happened to the others?" I sat up stiffly, clutching my chest and heaving for breath.

"They are resting, as you should be. Our doctors have looked at you. It isn't good news Naruto." He seemed more tired than usual.

"How long do they say." I already knew the answer.

He raised a non-existent eyebrow, "You knew? How."

I shook my head. "I'm not really sure. What did your doctors say?"

"Six months. They're making a medicine for you that should help." His voice, usually so calm had an edge to it. He was lying to me.

"Did they find out what was wrong with me?" If anything, I wanted to know that. I wanted to know what was killing me.

He reached into his sash and pulled out a small jar filled with something black. "Your chakra is killing you."

I looked at my hand, and in stubborn disbelief, focused my chakra. A sickening feeling began to permeate my body, I saw Garaa become visibly unnerved. Chakra surrounded my hand. It was black. Pure black. Like a void of nothingness.

I sighed. "Well shit."

* * *

Let me know what you think, who else you want to be alive, whatever pairings you want to see beyond Naruto/Ino, because that IS the current pairing, in case you were wondering.


	3. Life

Well, this is chapter three of this story, and I'm not getting nearly the kind of traffic on it that I'd like, but one of my good friends has asked that I continue this, so ShinobiDark72, this is for you. Some feedback from all you other random bastards would be nice too.

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After

Life

* * *

I stared blankly at the black chakra that surrounded my hand. It felt thick, congealed. This is what was blocking his ability to use nature chakra.

"This is dead chakra. Isn't it?" I looked at Gaara, the dark circles around his eyes standing out vividly against his pale skin.

"Yes. Please, put it away." He was breathing heavily, clutching at his head wound. I relaxed, and let the disgusting chakra sink back into my body, growing nauseous as it did. Color returned to Gaara's face, and he sank back into his chair. "Sakura-san was quite distraught when she realized it."

I felt my eyes widen, and I quickly composed myself, "Sakura-chan is here? She's alive?"

Gaara nodded slowly, "Yes, after the Light, her along with myself, my siblings, and a few other shinobi, woke up in front of the gates. We've been here ever since, trying to contact our friends and allies. Sakura-san has been invaluable, her medical knowledge has saved many lives…. perhaps I should retrieve her, now that you are awake." Gaara rose, and with a curt nod, fled the room.

I sat in the bed, my breath rattling in my chest, _'Sakura-chan. you're alive…'_ I was ecstatic. The woman I had loved for so long was alive, and here in Suna. The woman I loved…

"Naruto-kun!" A sweet female voice cut into my thoughts, and I looked up, expecting Sakura. But instead, a blonde haired missile crashed into my chest, nearly knocking the wind out of me. Ino wrapped her arms around me, burying her face into the hospital shirt I wore, crying gently. I stroked her hair, and I smiled.

My smile died. Sakura. Did I even love her anymore? And if I did, what about Ino? We had grown so close; I didn't doubt that she loved me now, if she didn't before. But did I love Ino? We needed each other then. When it was just us in that crumbling flower shop. We needed each other, in so many ways. Did we need each other anymore? Did I need her? Did I want her? My thoughts were interrupted by a particularly vicious coughing fit, which brought a bloody froth to my lips. I gasped for air, and Ino straightened out, and pressed her now glowing hands to my chest, easing the pain. I smiled again. "Thank you…dear."

Ino smiled, and wiped the blood from my lips. Someone at the door cleared their throat. A woman. Ino and I looked to the door, and saw a thin lipped Sakura standing there. "I'll come back later. I don't want to interrupt." Ino flushed, and I coughed softly.

Ino gave me a swift hug, and turned to leave the room, stopping next to Sakura, "I'm glad you're alive Forehead."

Sakura's voice was chilly, "Yeah. Whatever." Ino blinked back tears, leaving swiftly.

I frowned. "She really is glad to see you Sakura-chan. So am I."

"But you called _her_ dear. And I'm just Sakura-chan."

I looked at Sakura. She had lost weight, and her once bubble-gum pink hair had grown darker, whether by dirt and grime or some natural change. Her green eyes sparkled defiantly. She looked gorgeous. But so did Ino. "A lot has happened Sakura-chan. I still…"

"Still what. Still care about me? Love me?" She moved closer to me, sitting down on the end of the bed, near my feet. "I was so worried about you Naruto. I knew that they had captured you. I knew you shouldn't have gone! Do you remember…how I tried to get you to stay?"

I nodded slowly, how could I forget? The soft, gentle kisses, the feel of her smooth skin on mine, her deft, gentle hands…I shook my head, clearing the memory away. "Yes…I remember."

"I did it because I love you Naruto…I was afraid to lose you. Then…. I lose you, Akatsuki catches you." Her eyes brightened, she sat up and scooted up the bed. "Then! I find you again!" Her eyes darkened, "But then…you're sick." She looked at me, and I realized she was crying, "I was hoping to take care of you, make you better, or at least make you comfortable…. Then I come in… and she's all over you… taking care of you… and you're smiling, happy, calling her…dear. Where does that leave me Naruto?"

I looked down. I didn't even know where it left me. I looked up, and Sakura was right in front of my face, pressing her lips against my own. I melted, kissed her back.

When we broke away from each other, her lips were stained with my blood.

She smiled demurely. "I guess I know where that leaves me Naruto-kun. I love you."

My mouth opened and closed. "Sakura-chan….. I… I love you…" I looked to the side.

Her smile faltered, "But there's Ino… You slept with her, didn't you Naruto."

I was silent.

Her lips pressed together, becoming naught but a narrow line. "Well…" She got up and walked to the door, and instead of leaving like I thought she would, she closed the door, locked it, and propped a chair against the handle. Turning back towards me, she pursed her lips. "If I have to fight to have you. I will. Naruto. I _love_ you."

* * *

Later

* * *

I stood in the center of one of the training grounds at Suna's academy, the harsh sun beating down on me. I looked up, the sky was an ugly reddish color, the sun, a burning drop of blood in the sky, casting an unearthly red glow on everything.

I looked to the side of the dirt field, and saw Sakura and Ino, sitting a small distance apart, looking at each other with wary eyes. I sighed. I was in a situation. Sakura and Ino were both vying for my attention. I blushed just thinking of how forward Sakura's attempt at getting my attention was. I didn't know what to do.

"I'd say fuck my life, but it's already burning up as it is, so, that's pretty well accomplished. "

I held out my hand, and focused my chakra into the familiar form of the Rasengan. Immediately, a foul feeling permeated the air, and a chill descended on the hot desert day. The Rasengan in my hand was like nothing I had seen before. It was blackness. Pure, infinite blackness.

I scowled, and slammed it into the ground. A fearsome screech filled the air, and the black chakra tore into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. The sickening feeling of the dead chakra surrounded me, I looked around, panicked, as the foul black chakra surrounded my body, forming a dome of blackness.

_Do you want to know what is inside of you Naruto-kun? The nature of the darkness eating away at your body, your soul? I can tell you, if you but ask._

I blinked as I released the Rasengan. That was Itachi's voice. The odd, off-timbre voice of the specter that had appeared before me at the fire. _'Yes Itachi. I want to know. I want to fight it. I want to live.'_

_Life is for the living Naruto-kun. That term no longer fully applies to you._

* * *

For those of you wondering what the fuck is going on in this story, the next chapter should hopefully shed some light on that.

**Things to ponder:**

What is Itachi going to tell Naruto?

What is going to happen with Naruto's unintended love-triangle?

Who else is alive in the world?

What REALLY happened when the Jubi was released?

And most distressing; Where IS the Jubi?


	4. Answers

Chapter four of After, incoming. I'm going to be updating this as often as possible, but I started college this week, so I'm going to be rather busy. Expect updates for this story, and for Clan Law. I might redo some of Clan Law though, so, be warned.

* * *

After

Answers

* * *

Itachi appeared before me, his shadowy form even more indistinct than the last time I had seen him. He seemed tired. Manifesting to me must have been taxing.

"_What the hell is going on Itachi. What is this?_"

A small smile crept across his lips, Y_ou're dead Naruto-kun. Mostly. It's complicated...to fully explain it would take quite some time._

I frowned, an old anger bubbling up inside of me, "_Then give me the quick messy version._"

He nodded, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Your living body, your flesh, is being sustained by an energy that, by its very nature cannot sustain life_. I cannot claim to understand how this is possible, just suffice to say that, for _you _Naruto-kun, it is indeed possible. If say...this process had happened gradually, your body likely would have gotten used to the dead chakra, and thus you would be able to live a full life, like any other. It's unfortunate that this change was thrust upon you though. I am truly sorry._

I sat across from him, looking at my hands. "_So how did this happen?_"

His black eyes bored into me. He spoke a single word, as if it would explain everything. _Jubi._

"_I don't understand, what the hell does the Jubi have to do with this?"_ I rubbed at my left eye, it felt like some sand had gotten into it, some sand even fell away as I rubbed at it.

_Don't rub. When the Jubi was reborn, it released a large amount of negative energy. Pure, raw Yin chakra, essentially. A small portion of it washed across the world, which is the "Light" everyone saw. That raw power that so damaged the world, was the Jubi's Yin chakra, the power of its imagination._

I shuddered to think of the twisted mind that would imagine this much death and destruction. "_Wait...you said a small portion. What happened to the rest of it?"_

Itachi just looked at me. Silent.

It took a while to sink in, but it finally did. "_The rest of its Yin chakra...is in me?"_

Itachi nodded. _The human body was never meant to contain such vast amounts of Yin chakra. Your father only sealed the Kyuubi's Yang Chakra in you for exactly that reason. The Yang chakra gives life, Yin chakra is much more...unstable. Volatile. Form without life...is death. You had so much life in you Naruto, and the Yin chakra is eating away at it. It is Dead. Like you. Like me. Form without life._

I furiously rubbed at my eye, the grains of sand were causing me an intense pain. I needed the pain to go away, so I could think.

Itachi's hand closed around my wrist, his voice serious and cold. _I told you to stop rubbing the eye. I gave it to you so you could use it, not rub it into shreds._

I was floored. "_Gave it...to me?_ _What did you give to me?"_

He held up his hand in front of my face, and a thin film of reflective chakra appeared in the air. The skin around my left eye was black, like it had been burned, but glassy, and cracked. Like it had been replaced with obsidian. Resting in the place of my own blue iris was a blazing red one, with a black four pointed pinwheel-like shape inside of it.

_Just something that was given to me, a long time ago._

* * *

"Sempai!" The cyclopian shinobi turned towards the sound of his name, his head tilted oddly to the side. "Finally! I've been looking for you for days! How could you just vanish like that?"

"You are...Tenzo?" Kakashi seemed confused.

Yamato sighed, "I've told you before sempai, it's Yamato now."

Beneath his mask, Kakashi frowned. "Irrelevant."

Yamato raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling alright?"

Kakashi rubbed his left eye through his headband. "Itchy."

"Are you al-" Kakashi had moved faster than Yamato could track, and was now holding the younger shinobi aloft by his throat.

"You possess the Shisubeki's genes. We can smell them in you. False though. Not born that way. Implanted? Irrelevant. Incomplete. Fragmented. Imperfect. Broken. Damaged." Kakashi shook his head. "Synonyms? Irrelevant. No eyes. The Shisubeki stole our eye. Implanted it into himself. Took power from us. Trapped us in him. We were so _angry_. Then...then he broke. We were so _happy_! But...clever clever. Broke us too. Fragmented." Yamato could hear Kakashi's teeth grinding together. "_Irrelevant!_ But, you, you, Tenzoyamato have some of his genes. In your blood. Your flesh. His genes. Our power. Inside of you. Give it back." Kakashi lifted up his headband. The red iris remained, but the tomoe had been increased in number by six, and set along three concentric rings. "Give _it_ _**back!**_"

A whirlwind of chakra surrounded the two men, and the furious roaring of the stirred up wind was not enough to drown out the sound of Yamato's voice.

The whirlwind faded, and Kakashi dropped Yamato's desiccated body to the ground. "_**Back. Back where it belongs. Hm. This form. Won't sustain us forever. Life. We have life, but no form. We need form...the child. The child held our wrath. Oh? He has some of our life...which sustains his form. Like us though..it will not sustain him. Let us find him then? Become complete? Yes. Let us do that.**_"

* * *

SO! That's the chapter then. I feel like it's shorter than I would like, but it covers everything I wanted to cover for this installment. Now, I have school in like...5 hours, so, enjoy, comment, ect.

Peace off.


	5. Resolve

.Well, new chapter of After, been a while eh? Sorry about that. I need more reviews!

* * *

After

Resolve

* * *

A Sharingan. Hah, if only that bastard Sasuke could see me now. _"Why?"_

Itachi looked at me, his face calm. _It will help you. And I have no use for it, not any longer._

"_What can it do?"_ I felt the glasslike skin around my eyesocket and allowed the dead chakra to recede from my new eye, as it did, my skin returned to normal. Well that's a relief.

_In all honesty, I do not know. Perhaps you will retain the abilities that the original owner possessed? Perhaps exposure to the dead chakra that flows through your body will change it somehow. I could not tell you. But we have dallied long enough, you have a task Naruto, and only six months to do so. _

I scowled, _"Why is it always _me_ that has to save the world? Why can't some other bastard do it this time around?"_

That small smile tugged at Itachi's lips, _Because there's no other bastards that have the Jubi's Yin chakra in their bodies, for a start. _

"_Fucking weasel."_

_You must find the Jubi Naruto-kun, and defeat it. No one but you will be able to. Anyone else would be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of its chakra. _

"_Why wouldn't I be overwhelmed? Sure I've got the Yin, but it's got the Yang, and the knowledge of how to use it."_ I sagged, I felt so tired, and my lungs were aching.

_Like the dead chakra within you, whatever body the Jubi's living, Yang chakra is inhabiting is unstable. Just the act of you and the Jubi coming into physical contact will create a reaction._

"_What sort of reaction?" _I narrowed my eyes, Itachi was being tricky. I could tell.

_I don't know, I imagine it would allow you to possibly defeat the beast._ Itachi's form was growing more indistinct, his voice faint, as if heard from a great distance. _I must go now Naruto-kun, I tire. You will see me again, when you have great need. Use the power I have given you, use the power of the Jubi, find the beast, defeat it, and set the world right._

The darkness around me dissolved, and I was keenly aware of Sakura and Ino rushing towards me. I sighed. "So, totally no pressure. Shit."

* * *

I sat atop the wall the surrounded Suna, protecting it from the harsh sandstorms of the desert. Of course, that was irrelevant now. Largely the wall protected Suna from the glare. If my resolve had been weak before, if I was unsure about my path, now it way laid out in front of me, stark and foreboding.

The shifting sands of Kaze no Kuni were gone.

In their place, a labyrinth of razor sharp glass.

I sighed. I was doing that a lot lately. Sighing. I tipped back the bottle of sake that I held. Bee would have had a comment to lighten the mood, some bizarre rhyme. I held out a fist, a silent tribute to the man that had become my friend, and had been lost.

It struck me then, how this was my fault. All of it. If I hadn't been so stubborn...then Bee wouldn't have died. Then the world wouldn't be torn to shit. Then this. Then that. Then. THEN. THENTHENTHEN.

I screamed at the heavens, and the sea of glass answered. Before the force of my despair, the force of my fury, it shattered. Hundreds of miles of twisting glass, exploded, launching shards high into the air.

The glittering fragments caught the last rays of the sun, and my cry died. It was beautiful.

It would be known, later on, as the first good and beautiful thing that had happened since the Light. As the glittering fragments of glass fell back towards the earth, a small child spoke up, and gave the event its name.

Niji no ame. Rain of Rainbows.

And that is what it looked like, hundreds of thousands of multicolored lights, raining down from the heavens in the last rays of the sun, on a day after the world ended.

But had it ended? Or had it simply transitioned to a new state of being.

I smiled, and as I watched the rainbows fall from the sky, I hardened my resolve. I had seen the path. I would walk it. This was not the end of the world.

Not if I had anything to say about it.


End file.
